Avoiding Conflicts While Planning

Ways to help event planning meetings to go smoothly

Jul 13, 2007 Paula Kirman

Anyone involved in the peace movement usually has to attend numerous meetings to plan events. Here are some suggestions to help smooth over differences between people.

Sometimes meetings can have tense moments because of differences between personalities, political viewpoints, and even ideologies. It is quite pathetic when arguments break out during meetings where peace events are being planned. Conflict wastes everyone's time, and gets in the way of the goal towards planning an effective peace event. Here are some conflict resolution tips:

Listen

The old cliché is true: you have one mouth and two ears, so try to listen twice as often as you speak. Listen, don't just hear. Really listen to what your colleagues have to say.

Be Welcoming

Always greet newcomers with a warm welcome, and take some time to go around the room and make introductions.

Voice Lessons

Try to maintain an even, clear tone of voice. Shouting matches rarely solve anything.

Making Decisions

When a decision needs to be made, follow whatever rules your group or organization has established, whether by consensus, straw vote, silent ballot, or whatever system you use.

Rules

Your organization should have established rules on how meetings are run. Some groups use Robert's Rules of Order, while others have less formal arrangements. Whatever you decide, stick with it, and make it clear to everyone who joins.

Keep It Fun

Peace can be serious business at times. Don't get too caught up in it -- your group should plan fun times and outings together, just to hang out and enjoy each other's company. You'll get to know each other better as people, which will translate over into meetings.

Respect

This one should be a no-brainer, but alas, it often is neglected: treat everyone with respect.
Don't interrupt when someone else is speaking.
Don't resort to personal attacks when you become frustrated with someone.
If need be, take a breather from the meeting to clear your head.
If you are making decisions via e-mail, save your message as a draft and re-read it a few hours later to make sure that your tone and language are appropriate, especially if you were in a bad mood when you wrote it.

A Last Resort

If someone is continually causing a disturbance, the person should be asked to leave (after several warnings, of course, and with the backup of other members of the group). If disturbances persist, you may even consider asking the person to leave the organization. This can be done via a letter signed by others in the group, and should be a unanimous decision. Otherwise, you risk causing a split, both in your organization and in the greater peace community. It is amazing how divided people can become over issues such as this.

The copyright of the article Avoiding Conflicts While Planning in Law, Crime & Justice is owned by Paula Kirman. Permission to republish Avoiding Conflicts While Planning in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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